Catherwood LibraryILR School

(Online subscription may be required) In 2000 The number of child laborers world-wide was almost 250 million, but today that number is down to about 168 million. The decline is due mostly to increased attention and pressure by activists, governments, and customer-facing firms. One of the largest proponents of the crackdowns on child labor, the U.N. had laid a goal to completely eliminate the issue by 2016, a goal that it now says will not be possible to reach. The recovery of global demand after the recession and insufficient local enforcement and reporting may contribute to the future growth of child labor, especially in the poorest African and Asian countries.